Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 11:21, 8 May 2006

This page documents an English Misplaced Pages policy.It describes a widely accepted standard that editors should normally follow, though exceptions may apply. Changes made to it should reflect consensus.

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This page in a nutshell: Using multiple accounts for double voting, deception, impersonation and circumventing Misplaced Pages policy is forbidden.

Open cases of sock puppetry can be found on Misplaced Pages:Suspected sock puppets. For other uses of the term "Sock puppet", see Sock puppet (disambiguation).

Alternate accounts (or multiple accounts) are additional username(s) used by an editor who edits under more than one name. A sock puppet is an alternate account used to give the appearance that additional people support a particular vote or position (when in reality some of the accounts or IPs are controlled by the same person). A circumventor is an account used by a banned or blocked editor to circumvent the ruling. Sockpuppets and circumventors are prohibited at Misplaced Pages. Other types of alternate accounts are allowed, but should be avoided whenever possible. Jimbo Wales has said: "There's no specific policy against it, but it's generally considered uncool unless you have a good reason." Nonetheless, there are legitimate uses of alternate accounts. (See table below.)

If there is evidence to support that an account may be a sock puppet or a user is operating sock puppets, other users may tag that account or report the matter. Additionally, editors may be directed to confirm details of alternative accounts owned and their use, and may under some circumstances be barred from editing under alternate accounts if concerns of sockpuppetry are raised.

Also see this page for information on how this affects other online communities, and the section on single purpose accounts for policy concerning solicitation of friends and new users to promote a viewpoint via 'meat-puppet' groups.

Summary of policy for different types of multiple account

Misplaced Pages allows permitted multiple accounts under certain limited conditions, the main one of which is that two accounts of a single user are not engaged in supporting each other, or the same viewpoint, or both influencing discussion and opinion, within the same article ("sock puppetry").

Because multiple accounts can easily raise suspicions of abuse (causing disruption to Misplaced Pages's processes and extra work for administrators), or be used to deceptively influence talk page discussion and establishing consensus, editors should avoid them where possible, and may be directed to cease usage or declare their use if their (suspected) use causes other editors concern.

In particular, using multiple anonymous or undeclared alternate accounts, will often give rise to stronger suspicion of bad faith or sockpuppetry.

Tags exist that allow editors to identify alternate accounts both anonymously and in full, and users with such accounts are strongly urged to use these tags where possible. Undeclared alternates should really only be used when there is a good reason (although this is not a "requirement" as such), due to their potential for abuse. Alternative accounts used for deception, improper influencing of articles, and evasion, are never acceptable and are a serious breach of policy in all circumstances.

Tagging your declared multiple accounts

Stating the reason for having the alternate account is encouraged, especially in the case of an anonymous account, so that others understand the purpose of the account (even if anonymous) and will not mistakenly make accusations of sock puppetry.

Multiple accounts can be "declared" by tagging the user page with {{User Alternate Acc|MAIN ACCOUNT}} which produces:

This user is an alternative account of MAIN ACCOUNT. This notice confirms that the user is familiar with Misplaced Pages's policy on using multiple accounts and that this account will not be used for sockpuppetry. You may discuss this account at User talk:MAIN ACCOUNT. See user creation—contribs—page moves—all logs—block log

Contributors who wish to state only that the account is a alternate account but not to whom it belongs can use the related tag {{User Alternate Acc Anon}} which produces:

This user is an alternative account of another Wikipedian.This template confirms that the user is familiar with Misplaced Pages policy on using multiple accounts and will not use this account for sock puppetry.

Contributors who use multiple accounts may also tag the "secondary" ones with {{User Alternate Acct|SOCKPUPPETEER}} which produces:

This username is an alternate account of SOCKPUPPETEER.

Primary accounts may be marked with {{User Alt Acct Master}}, which gives:

This user is the owner of multiple Misplaced Pages accounts in a manner permitted by policy.

Legitimate uses of multiple accounts

Multiple accounts have legitimate uses. For example, prominent users might create a new account in order to experience how the community functions for new users. In particular, some have suggested that Jimbo should get, and edit from, an alternate account. Perhaps he does.

Segregation and security

Other users employ multiple accounts to segregate their contributions for various reasons. A user making substantial contributions to an area of interest in Misplaced Pages might register another account to be used solely in connection with developing that area.

Some users use alternate accounts for security reasons. Because public computers can have password-stealing trojans installed, users may feel that they put themselves at increased risk if they log in from a public computer using their main accounts.

Multiple accounts also serve to protect identity. This may be necessary or desirable in a variety of situations. For example:

• Someone who is known to the public or within a particular circle may be identifiable based on their interests and contributions; dividing these up between different accounts might help preserve the person's anonymity.
• Users with a recognized expertise in one field might not wish to associate their contributions to that field with contributions to articles about less weighty subjects.
• A person editing an article which is highly controversial within their family, social or professional circle may wish to use an alternate account so that readers unfamiliar with WP:NPOV policy will not assume their information edits are statements of personal belief, or harass or annoy them outside Misplaced Pages.

Keeping heated issues in one small area

Finally, others might use different accounts in talk pages to avoid conflicts about a particular area of interest turning into conflicts based upon user identity and personal attacks elsewhere. A person participating in a discussion of an article about abortion, for example, might not want to allow other participants an opportunity to extend that discussion or engage them in unrelated or philosophically motivated debate outside the context of that article.

'Role' accounts

Role accounts, accounts which are used by multiple users, are only officially sanctioned on en: Misplaced Pages in exceptional cases at this time. This includes accounts where only one user is editing during any given time period. The only currently permitted role account on en: is User:Schwartz PR, the account for a public relations firm working closely with the Foundation. If you run an account with multiple users, it is likely to be blocked.

Bots

Editors who operate bots (programs that edit automatically or semi-automatically) are encouraged to create separate accounts (and request they be marked as bot accounts via m:requests for bot status), so the automated edits can be filtered out of recent changes. In addition, this allows administrators to block misbehaving bots without blocking the operator. (See Misplaced Pages:Bots for bot procedures and policies)

Prohibited uses of multiple accounts (sock puppetry)

Voting

Misplaced Pages uses a "one person, one vote" principle for all votes and similar discussions where individual preferences are counted in any fashion. Accordingly, alternate accounts are not permitted to vote in any Misplaced Pages election, nor are they allowed to participate in any similar procedure, such as polls and surveys or the discussions at Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion and Misplaced Pages:Requests for adminship. An alternate account used to cast double votes is considered to be a sock puppet (proven sock puppets may be permanently blocked).

Deception and impersonation

In addition to double-voting, multiple accounts should not be used for purposes of deception, or to create the illusion of broader support for a position. This kind of behavior is disruptive and unnecessary for any potentially legitimate use of alternate. In particular, accounts that are used to maliciously impersonate another Wikipedian are considered to be sock puppets and should be blocked permanently.

Circumventing policy

Policies apply per person, not per account. Policies such as 3RR are for each person's edits. Similarly, using an alternate account for policy violations will cause any penalties to also be applied to your main account.

Users who are banned from editing, temporarily subject to a legitimate block may not use alternate account to circumvent this. Evading a ban in this manner is considered to be sock puppetry and causes the timer on the ban to restart. Furthermore, alternate accounts may not be used to circumvent ArbCom decisions.

Multiple administrator accounts

The community has strongly rejected users having more than one username with admin powers. If you leave, come back under a new name and are nominated for admin, it is expected that you will give up admin powers on your old account (you may do this quietly with your old account and not have to show a link between accounts). Except in extraordinary cases, you should have only one account with powers greater than those of a regular editor. User:Dannyisme is currently the only legitimate alternate account with administrative powers.

Identification and reporting of suspected sock puppets

Characteristics of sock puppets

Not surprisingly, sock puppet accounts usually show much greater familiarity with Misplaced Pages and its editing process than most newcomers. They are more likely to use edit summaries, immediately join in edit wars, or participate vocally in procedures like Articles for deletion or Requests for adminship as part of their first few edits. They are also more likely to be brand new or a single purpose account when looking at their contributions summary.

One type of sock puppet is sometimes referred to as a "straw man sock puppet." They are created by users with one point of view, but act as though they have an opposing point of view, in order to make that point of view look bad, or to act as an online agent provocateur. They will often make poor arguments which their "opponents" can then easily refute. This can allow them to essentially make straw man arguments. Such sock puppets thus become a personification of the straw man argument which their creators argue against. They often act unintelligent or uninformed, and may behave in an overtly bigoted manner. The effect is often to obfuscate the debate and prevent a serious discussion of the arguments from each side. Suspicion of such sock puppets is often harder to verify though, as there are often people who naturally behave in such a manner with the same effects.

When questions arise

In some cases it may not be completely clear whether an account is a sock puppet, as the purpose is usually to avoid detection. Similarities in interests and editing style can be noted, but not everyone may be familiar enough with the user to understand the evidence.

If it appears that sock puppets are being used as part of an edit war or to distort the outcome of a vote or survey, one possible rule of thumb is the so-called 100-edit rule. This suggests that any account which already has more than 100 edits across a range of other articles, or has been active more generally on Misplaced Pages, can often be presumed not to be a sock puppet. If there are unusually many accounts with few edits participating, you may want to check if they are sock puppets, by looking at IP addresses or times that edits were made. However, simply having made few edits is not evidence of sock puppetry on its own, and if you call a new user a sock puppet without justification, they will probably be insulted and get a negative impression of Misplaced Pages.

Keep in mind there can be multiple users who are driven to start participating in Misplaced Pages for the same reason, particularly in controversial areas such as articles about the conflict in the Middle East, cult figures, or Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion. Some have suggested applying the 100-edit guideline more strongly in such cases, assuming that all accounts with fewer than 100 edits are sock puppets. Generally, such beliefs have been shown not to be well founded.

Where it is unclear whether or not sock puppetry is in progress, server log information can be consulted. To comply with Wikimedia Foundation privacy policy, this is only done in serious cases involving violation of an arbitration remedy, serious ongoing pattern vandalism, vote fraud actually affecting the outcome of a vote, or serious ongoing use of sock puppets to violate the three revert rule. Requests may be made at Request for CheckUser.

If you have been accused incorrectly of being a sock puppet, don't take it too personally. New users are unknown quantities. Stay around a while and make good edits, and your record will speak for itself.

Steps to take when you think someone is a sock puppet

Please, do not report cases of sockpuppetry older than one week where there is no current problem. If the case is not a current problem, just watch the user and report him if new cases of abuse show up.

1. Gather together the evidence that user is a sock puppet, however obvious it might be. If this is not the first time the user is suspected, link to previous cases should be provided. The evidence should state why is it obvious that an account is being used for sockpuppetry. This must include not only evidence that that the account is an alternate account, but also the instances where the account has been used in a forbidden manner. Keep in mind that users may sometimes make mistakes, and in cases where a usually legitimate alternate account seems to have been used as a sock puppet, it may be appropriate to ask the user before making accusations. The problem may have merely been caused by a mistaken login.
2. Report the matter, if appropriate, at Misplaced Pages:Suspected sock puppets. Full details of the process can be found there.

If the evidence does suggest clear abuse, and there is no serious doubt that sock puppetry is taking place, administrators may block the affected account at their discretion. In other cases it may be sufficient to monitor the account's contributions to watch for future problems.

In certain difficult circumstances where there is both significant abuse and serious questions as to whether or not sockpuppetry is in fact taking place, technical means can be used to ascertain whether sock puppetry is at work. Requests for CheckUser contains detailed policy and procedure.

Steps to take if accused of being a sock puppet

"To be accused of being a sock puppet" means somebody has placed a {{Socksuspect}} on your user page.

1. If the accuser has not formed a proper evidence page, you are allowed to remove the template from your user page.
2. If the accuser has listed evidence against you, you are not allowed to remove the template from your page for 7 days. You are allowed to respond to each and every accusation on the evidence page but are not allowed to remove accusations.
3. If the accuser hasn't requested CheckUser for 7 days, you are allowed to remove the template from your page.

Tagging of forbidden sock puppets

Only sock puppets and sockpuppeteers which have been formally shown beyond reasonable doubt, should be tagged as such. This may be done based upon:

1. the user's own admission;
2. matching of IP addresses or similar strong technical evidence;
3. a ruling on Misplaced Pages:Requests for arbitration.

If a sock puppet is only suspected, then it should not be forcibly tagged. It should instead be reported if there is strong evidence, or a Checkuser request can be made (explaining the basis for the request) to verify suspicions.

Tagging identified sock puppets

If an account has been shown to be used in a forbidden manner, as a sock puppet, then it should be identified as such.

If the proof was obtained via a confirmed Checkuser request, then the tag {{SockpuppetCheckuser|SOCKPUPPETEER}} should be used:

This account has been confirmed by a CheckUser as a sockpuppet of SOCKPUPPETEER (talk · contribs · logs), and has been blocked indefinitely. Please refer to Checkuser for evidence. Account information: block log – contribs – logs – abuse log – CentralAuth

"Category:Misplaced Pages sockpuppets of SOCKPUPPETEER" does not exist.
Please use this link to create the category page
(The page will be pre-loaded. All you need to do is save it)

If the proof is in any other form, then the more general tag {{subst:SockpuppetProven|1=SOCKPUPPETEER|evidence=EVIDENCELINK}} should be added to the user page of the sock puppet account. Replace "EVIDENCELINK" with something such as "]":

Template:SockpuppetProven

The above templates should not be added in the cases of accusations of sock puppetry which have not been proven, nor should they be added in the case of an legitimate alternate account, especially where the user may wish to maintain anonymity. Abuse of these tags will result in warning and potentially blocking.

Tagging identified puppeteers

If an account has been shown to be used by a user which engaged in sockpuppetry, then it should be blocked for a period of time.

You should put this template: {{subst:SockmasterProven|evidence=EVIDENCELINK|period=PERIOD}} to his talk page. Replace "EVIDENCELINK" with something such as "]", and "PERIOD" with the period of time:

This account has been blocked from editing for a period of PERIOD for sockpuppetry per evidence presented at EVIDENCELINK. Note that multiple accounts are allowed, but using them for illegitimate reasons is not, and that any contributions made while evading blocks or bans may be reverted or deleted. Once the block has expired, you're welcome to make useful contributions. If you believe that this block was in error, and you would like to be unblocked, you may appeal this block by first reading the guide to appealing blocks, then adding the text {{unblock|Your reason here ~~~~}} below. ~~~~

The above templates should not be added in the cases of accusations of sock puppetry which have not been proven, nor should they be added in the case of an legitimate alternate account, especially where the user may wish to maintain anonymity. Abuse of these tags will result in warning and potentially blocking.

Single-purpose accounts and meatpuppet activity

A related issue occurs when multiple individuals create brand new accounts specifically to participate in (or influence) one particular vote or area of discussion. This is especially common in deletion discussions or controversial articles. These newly created accounts (or anonymous edits) may be friends of another editor, may be related in some way to the subject of an article under discussion, or may be solicited by someone to support a specific 'angle' in an article debate. These accounts are sometimes referred to as "single-purpose accounts". They are also derogatively called "meat puppets", a name perhaps inspired by the band of the same name.

Whereas committed Wikipedians are usually active on a range of articles, and their aim is to see a balanced growth in articles and in the encyclopedia as a whole even if contributing only in their specialist topic area, single purpose account users very often come to Misplaced Pages with one set agenda or interest and a specific aspect or 'side' to promote by their edits and views within that interest. However, in some cases, a single purpose account may also be a legitimate alternate account of a committed Wikipedian.

From the point of view of Misplaced Pages policy, these users are treated similarly to sock puppets because they are difficult to distinguish from real sock puppets. Neither a sock puppet nor a brand-new, single-purpose account holder is considered a member of the Misplaced Pages community in these circumstances. The reason behind this is that, for instance, an article about an online community should not be kept merely because all members of that community show up to vote for it. The Arbitration Committee has ruled that, for the purpose of dispute resolution, when there is uncertainty whether a party is one user with sock puppets or several users with similar editing habits they may be treated as one individual.

When interacting with new users you believe to be single-purpose accounts, remember to be civil. Do not call them "meat puppets", since that term sounds particularly uncivil, and is certainly likely to discourage new users from participating further. Remember that there are independent people behind these accounts who, for one reason or another, are interested in Misplaced Pages. While some may unhelpfully stick to their single purpose, others may become involved in other parts of Misplaced Pages and become useful contributors.

Advertising and soliciting single-purpose accounts

It is considered highly inappropriate or unacceptable to externally advertise Misplaced Pages articles that are being debated, or where one wishes to stir up debate, in order to attract users with likely known views and bias, in order to strengthen one side of a debate and influence consensus or discussion. It's also inappropriate to invite "all one's friends" to help argue an article. Soliciting people to create accounts for the purpose of arguing on your side is not an acceptable practice on Misplaced Pages.

The arrival of multiple newcomers, with limited Misplaced Pages background and predetermined viewpoints arriving in order to present those viewpoints, rarely helps achieve neutrality and most times actively damages it, no matter what one might think. Misplaced Pages is not a place for mixing fact and opinion, personal advocacy, or argument from emotion. Controversial articles often need more familiarity with policy to be well edited, not less. These users can also damage the credibility of their own view, especially in a voting or consensus gathering context - views mostly supported by single-purpose accounts are much more likely to be discounted.

If you feel that a debate is ignoring your voice, then the appropriate action is not to solicit others outside Misplaced Pages. Instead, avoid personal attacks, seek comments and involvement from other Wikipedians, or pursue dispute resolution. These are quite well tested processes, and are designed to avoid the problem of exchanging bias in one direction for bias in another.

See also

• Internet sock puppet

• Misplaced Pages policies
• Misplaced Pages alternative accounts
• Misplaced Pages sockpuppets of SOCKPUPPETEER